If a Martian, completely unaware of Syracuse, asked me a good reason to visit it, I would give him three excellent reasons for not being able to visit Syracuse: the Greek Theater, the Bears Museum and Ortigia . Easily accessible from the campsite thanks to the motorway that goes from Syracuse to Rosolini, Syracuse is well connected to Pachino also by bus.


Syracuse was officially founded in 734 BC as a colony of the Greek Corinth. In a relatively short time it became among the most important and populous metropolises of Magna Graecia, rivaling only Athens . The original core of the city, concentrated in the island of Ortigia , was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake that razed the entire Val di Noto in 1693. Its reconstruction in Baroque style has made it another wonderful architectural core of which Sicily can boast. The polis was formerly nicknamed aretusea , because of Aretusa, the famous source of fresh water that for millennia quenches the Syracusans, among the few areas in Europe where the plant of the papyrus .
Syracuse, rivaled with Athens also for the role of "capital" of the culture of the ancient world, having been an attractive center for the likes of Plato , who tried to realize the political ideal of > Re-Philosopher , and Aeschylus , who in his magnificent theater presented the tragedy I Persiani . In Syracuse was born the great mathematician and scientist ante litteram Archimedes , whose "physical" intuitions played an important role in the resistance to Roman power. In Syracuse one of the first Christian communities was born and it is no coincidence that the city was also the birthplace of one of the most important and influential personalities of Christendom, the martyr Saint Lucia . Syracuse, as well as the entire Greek world, fell into Roman hands in 212 BC. then, with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, follow a similar fate to the rest of Sicily, passing from the Byzantine domination to the Arab, Norman, Aragonese, Austrian, Bourbon and, finally, to the not spontaneous adhesion to the Kingdom of Italy of the Savoy. This abundance of cultural influences is reflected in the great architectural variety present in the city.


Rather common in Sicily were the buildings of Christian churches on pre-existing Greek temples. Thus the Temple of Athena in Ortigia , dating back to the fifth century BC, already Christianized in the Middle Ages, was incorporated into the Cathedral of the Nativity of Mary Most Holy , ie the Cathedral of Syracuse . The Doric columns are indeed still visible and preserved. During the Arab domain, a mosque was built in the Cathedral. The current façade, in Baroque style, was built after the collapse of the previous Norman facade collapsed following the devastating earthquake of 1693. Ortigia is also home to the church of Santa Lucia alla Badia , rebuilt entirely after the earthquake , which houses the Burial of Saint Lucia of Caravaggio. There are also the ruins of two other temples, both dating back to the 6th century BC: the temple of Apollo (better preserved) and the temple of Artemis next to the Palazzo Vermexio (dating back to 1629, current home of the Syracuse Town Hall). I conclude this rapid examination of Ortigia, absolutely not exhaustive, mentioning the only Castello Maniace that was born as a military structure (built by Federico II on the fortification that probably built the Byzantine general Giorgio Maniace who tore Syracuse to Arab domination), throughout history has assumed different roles in relation to the domination of the turn, thus becoming another symbol of the crucible of cultures that have contributed to fare Sicily .


The area of Neapolis is an archaeological area where monuments of inestimable value stand such as the Greek Theater, the Roman Amphitheater and the Ara of Ierone.
From the vastness of the Greek Theater one immediately realizes how important and populous Syracuse must have been in antiquity (estimates range from 250,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants). Although the first building dates back to the fifth century BC, the current appearance is the fruit of the restructuring that in the third century BC. the tyrant Gerone II worked, then the tyrannical one in the imperial epoch and, unfortunately, of the Spanish spoliation in the XVI century d.C. for the fortification of Ortigia. In the second half of the 16th century the ancient Greek aqueduct for agricultural purposes was reactivated: a house of millers stands out on the top of the theater cavea. Only in the eighteenth century returned a cultural interest for the theater that gave way to a process of revaluation that led from the last century to its original reuse.
The Roman Amphitheater , partly carved into the rock, was designed for gladiatorial shows and built during the Imperial age. Discreetly preserved it was brought to light in the middle of the 19th century.
Also the Ara of Ierone II has been subjected to the work of Spanish spoliation, to which only the rocky base has survived. It was an altar dedicated to Zeus.

From the Neapolis you can easily move on foot to the Regional Archaeological Museum Paolo Orsi , located in Villa Landolina (nineteenth-century mansion of the homonymous family) . Here is kept the history of Sicily, from prehistory to the Roman age. Here are preserved archaeological finds of any kind, coming from all over the island, from the skeletons of the now extinct dwarf elephant , to the prehistoric objects of daily use, to the Hellenistic and Roman busts.

Finally, the historical value of the church of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro (12th century AD), of the church of San Giovanni (6th century AD) can be overlooked, from which the largest Christian catacombs can be reached after the Roman ones and the ruins of the ancient castle. Eurialo, in Belvedere, built in the fifth century BC from the tyrant Dionysius I, who saw the Byzantines as his last users.

Far from me any ambition of exhaustiveness towards one of the most important historical cities in Italy. With this article I aspire only to arouse, in those who have not already done so, a bit 'of curiosity in visiting Syracuse. If not for me, trust Cicero, who said Urbem Syracusas maximam esse Graecarum, pulcherrimam omnium saepe audistis. Est, iudices, ita ut dicitur , translated: You have often heard that Syracuse is the largest Greek city and the most beautiful of all. Gentlemen, it's just like they say .